A lot of things have gone right for Chris Holtmann and his Ohio State Buckeyes as of late, after a difficult stretch from late-December to late-January saw them lose six of seven games. Additionally, they lost their freshman point guard, DJ Carton, to an indefinite leave of absence to address mental health issues.
Miraculously, the Buckeyes have won nine of their last 11 – and four in a row including back-to-back victories over ranked opponents Michigan and Illinois – despite Carton's absence and an injury to starting power forward Kyle Young four games ago.
Freshman E.J. Liddell was huge against Illinois in particular and is really coming on as of late and Luther Muhammad had a stretch where he regained his shooting touch to complement his always-useful tight defense but one of the other key factors in Ohio State's resurgence is the recent uptick in production from point guard CJ Walker.
The redshirt junior who arrived in Columbus by way of transfer from Florida State has given Holtmann's squad a huge lift, particularly over the last five games.
After averaging just 7.6 points over Ohio State's first 25 contests, Walker averaged 13.6 points over his last five, reaching double figures each time, including three-straight 15-point performances. Two of those came in wins over ranked opponents in No. 19 Michigan and No. 23 Illinois.
Remarkably, Walker had only reached double digits in back-to-back games one other time this season –10 vs. Morgan State and 10 vs. North Carolina back in early December.
Versus the Wolverines, Walker was sensational hitting 6-of-12 shots, tying his season-high with seven assists against just one turnover while also tying a season-high with six rebounds.
In Ohio State's win over Michigan back in early February, Walker missed all six of his field goal attempts to finish with just two points though he did tally five assists.
Against the Ilini, Walker hit just 2-of-10 from the floor but continuously put pressure on Illinois' defense, driving the lane at will to create an 11-of-13 night at the free throw line. He also added five assists and six boards in 36 minutes of action.
Four games ago against No. 7 Maryland, Walker showed up with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including a pair of triples and three assists, in a huge victory for the Buckeyes. His night included two free throws with 38 seconds left to ice the win along with another bucket and a big steal in the closing minutes.
In Ohio State's 12-point loss to Maryland back in early January, Walker missed 5-of-6 shots and registered just one assist and three points before fouling out.
In addition to his points per game climbing to 13.6 over the last five games compared to the 7.6 over the first 25 outings, his assists are up, turnovers are down, and he's doing work from the free throw line.
Walker has at least five assists in three of the last five games after reaching the five assist mark in eight of the first 25 games (32%). He also has just eight turnovers over the five-game surge, good for 1.6 per night, after averaging 2.0 giveaways over the first 25 contests.
After logging 13 free throw attempts thanks to countless dribble penetrations against Illinois, Walker has hit 23-of-27 free throws (85%) over the last five games. In the first 25 games, he attempted just 41 free throws. Basically, and obviously the percentage is heavily influenced by what is probably a one-game anomaly versus Illinois, 40% of Walker's free throw attempts on the season have come in the last five games, representing 17% of his games played.
Whether or not Walker can sustain his recent production remains to be seen but there's no denying the positive impact. His ability to penetrate is not only creating scoring opportunities for himself but for teammates as he willingly looks for kickouts and dump-offs to open teammates.
He's also improved his effectiveness working off high ball screens, often leading to productive two-man action with Kaleb Wesson.
The reality is no single player on Ohio State's current roster is good enough to flat out take over a game which means consistent production from each rotational player is a must for the Buckeyes to make a run.
Now more than ever, Walker looks like he can meet to that expectation.
